Sunday, April 10, 2011

Extraordinary Desserts (San Diego, CA): Pretty Ordinary?

Extraordinary Desserts was one of the places I was pretty excited about trying in San Diego. Finding out that they stay open late and close to my hotel, I drove straight there from LA.

Of course I had to try their famous Dulce de Leche cake, which had appeared Food Network's show "Best Thing I Ever Ate".

Extraordinary Dessert's Dulce de Leche Cake

It was great. Moist, decadent. Big. The caramel flavor came through even among the dark chocolate. Was it the best cake I ever ate, though? I don't think so. Still, I enjoyed sitting there reading while eating the cake and drinking tea.

But I also got some pastries to go, pointing things from the display case, and this apparently wasn't the best move. The pastries seem more expensive than the cakes, considering the portion size, but that's not a big deterrent if they are truly "extraordinary".
French Strawberry Pie

I ordered a croissant garnished with almonds, expecting a flaky almond croissant, but the back half of the pastry turned out to be brownie-like. Huh?
Croissant-Cake
Pineapple Cream Pastry
The danish with pineapple and cream fared better. The pastry was flaky and the sugar-coated upper crust was crunchy. My first bite with the candied pineapple and the cream was delightful, but apparently they had only put pineapples at the ends while the middle filling was all cream.
I call that false representation.

One thing I was happy to find is their extensive list of Mariage Frere's loose leaf teas.

I tried the strangely-named yet quite delicious Tahiti-iti (vanilla beans blended with premium Darjeeling).
Mariage Frere Tea at Extraordinary Desserts

I would love to just sit by the window drinking tea and reading.

I think all the hype about a particular place just brings more disappointment when it doesn't live up to it. The cake was good but didn't seem all that special to me and the pastries were both disappointing and expensive. It doesn't warrant a special trip but if I'm wandering around San Diego and have free time,  I'd still come back here and have some tea and cake.
Extraordinary Desserts

Extraordinary Desserts
2929 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 294-2132
http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com/extraordinarydesserts/
Extraordinary Desserts on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

Kirbie

I definitely think the cakes are better than the pastries. I think next time you should try some of the other cakes. The Caramel one has never been my favorite, I'm surprised it made that list. Passion fruit ricotta and La Bete Noire are my favorite ones here.

gourmetpigs

Thanks for the suggestions Kirbie! I do love passion fruit so I'll try that next time :)

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